As the cold metal bar moves closer and closer to my face, the looming threat of the 250-pound weight becomes more and more overbearing. My chest is concave from the excruciating pressure and it's all I can do not to give way and fall captive to the weight. However, the end result is undeniably inevitable: the weight will crush me completely. This feeling of intense pressure and the struggle that follows is very comparable to the crushing effects that sin can cause in a person's life. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the complex nature of sin is revealed through the way sin affects the souls and entire lives of several characters. This is more specifically demonstrated by Chillingworth, Dimmesdale and Hester. Throughout the novel, Roger Chillingworth's form of sin shows how sin can bring out the evil nature of humanity and how sin can consume someone's entire life. Likewise, Dimmesdale's character reveals how sin can wear down even the strongest human being with guilt. The complexity of sin is demonstrated even more fully by Hester's sin which causes constant ignominy, but ultimately has a more positive effect on her life. These three characters are examples of the major impacts sin can have on your life. Chillingworth's encounter with sin led him to give himself over entirely to the devil and undergo a dramatic transformation of his heart and soul. One of the many aspects of the complex nature of sin is delighting in sin and allowing it to engulf one's entire soul. as shown by Roger Chillingworth throughout the novel. It is demonstrated repeatedly in The Scarlet Letter how Chillingworth undergoes a drastic change, what causes this transformation, and who the characters are in the novel. A life can be consumed by the evil nature of sin and lead one into the lap of the devil, as Chillingworth shows. Or sin can completely destroy one's soul and existence through guilt, for example Dimmesdale. But fortunately, sin can have positive consequences in a sinner's life, depending on how strong that person is and how they grow, like Hester's character. Throughout the novel and these characters, sin and its effects are revealed to be varied. Sin can be excruciating and heartbreaking like a huge weight if you are not strong enough to lift it. Or it may allow you to become stronger and stronger based on how strong you were before you felt the effects of sin. Every person who has ever lived has sinned, so it's all about whether or not you let the effects of sin make or break you..